GAME STORY: W-B/Scranton - 0 at Lehigh Valley - 4 (11/3/21)

ALLENTOWN, Pa. - The Lehigh Valley Phantoms (1-5-2) played a complete, 60-minute game Wednesday night and rewarded with their first win on the 2021-22 season in a decisive 4-0 shutout victory over rival Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Felix Sandstrom picked up his first career AHL shutout, stopping all 25 shots he faced. Tonight, the Phantoms' goalie got some offensive support to the tune of goals from Maksim Sushko, Tyson Foerster, Hayden Hodgson and Gerry Mayhew in route to the big win.

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Lineup Notes

Felix Sandstrom got the start in net Wednesday night against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Kirill Ustimenko served as the team's backup for the second straight game. Samuel Ersson

Phantoms Scratches: Linus Hogberg, Mason Millman, Linus Sandin, Brennan Saulnier and Samu Tuomaala

Lines/Pairings:

Max Willman - Cal O'Reilly - Tyson Foerster Isaac Ratcliffe - Morgan Frost - Gerry Mayhew Maksim Sushko - German Rubtsov - Hayden Hodgson Isaac Ratcliffe - Connor Bunnaman - Jackson Cates

Cam York - Logan Day Egor Zamula - Adam Clendening Cooper Zech - Wyatte Wylie

Felix Sandstrom - Samuel Ersson

W-B/Scranton Penguins Lineup Notes

Veteran goaltender Louis Domingue got the start in net for the Penguins. Filip Lindberg, reigning AHL goaltender of the month (October), served as the Penguins' backup.

Penguins Scratches: Radim Zohorna, Justin Almeida, Anthony Angello, Jamie Devane, Niclas Almari Filip Hallander

Lines/Pairings:

Sam Poulin - Michael Chaput - Valtteri Puustinen Kasper Bjorkvist - Jordy Bellerive - Nathan Legare Matt Alfaro - Sam Houde - Jan Drozg Felix Robert - Jonathan Gruden - Kyle Olson

Cam Lee - Taylor Fedun Matt Bartkowski - Mitch Reinke Chris Bigras - Will Reilly

Louis Domingue - Filip Lindberg

GAME RECAP

1st Period

The Phantoms came out and played their best period of the season Wednesday night against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

From the opening shift - a dangerous chance that just sailed above the cross-bar by Gerry Mayhew - you could tell there was an increased sense of urgency and that the team was playing with purpose.

Just 2:25 in, the Phantoms were rewarded for their start. Hayden Hodgson forced a turnover along the wall, and German Rubtsov collected the puck - sending a pass between the face-off circles for Maksim Sushko. Sushko didn't hesitate, slapping a one-timer past Penguins' goalie Louis Domingue to put Lehigh Valley ahead 1-0 early.

Later in the period, the Penguins got into penalty trouble - taking three straight penalties including two just 11 seconds apart to set up Lehigh Valley with extended 5-on-3 power play time.

On the ensuing power play Morgan Frost got a puck up to the center point for Cam York, who dished it off to the left-wing circle for a one-timer from Tyson Foerster that hit twine with 4:38 left before the first intermission to extend the Phantoms' lead to 2-0. You could see the sigh of relief coming from Foerster as he skated toward his teammates to celebrate.

2nd Period

The theme of the middle frame? Penalties.

The teams traded power plays back and forth for nearly the opening half of the period after the Phantoms began the period with some carryover power play time.

The Phantoms continued to take trips to the box in the second half of the period as well, spending eight minutes shorthanded in the period.

German Rubtsov had a chance to extend the Phantoms' lead to 3-0 with 1:07 left before the second intermission, granted a penalty shot after he was slashed on a breakaway attempt. Rubtsov made a move and tried to go five-hole on Domingue, but the Pens' goalie made the stop.

For good measure, the Phantoms' took their fifth penalty of the middle frame as the clock expired - giving the Penguins a two-minute power play to begin the third period. Gerry Mayhew was involved in a scrum with two Penguins' forwards after the horn, but was the lone man heading to the penalty box.

Luckily for the Phantoms, Felix Sandstrom was solid in net - making some timely saves in the 2nd period to preserve the Phantoms' 2-0 lead heading to the final frame.

3rd Period

For the third straight game, the Phantoms carried a lead into the third period.

They were able to kill off Mayhew's penalty to open the period, and also able to extend their lead to 3-0 on a nice spin-o-rama backhand pass from Garrett Wilson to Hayden Hodgson entering the offensive zone.

Hodgson caught the pass with a full head of stream and fired a quick shot from the right-wing circle past Domingue 4:27 into the third. Adam Clendening added a secondary assist on Hodgson's second of the season.

From there, the Phantoms kept their foot on the gas - killing off a four-minute Penguins' power play in the second half of the third period and sealing the deal with a Mayhew empty netter to complete the 4-0 final score.

GAME SUMMARY

1st Period

2:25: LV - Sushko (1) - Rubtsov, Hodgson 11:26: WBS - (PP) Legare, minor (slashing) 13:32: WBS - (PP) Bigras, minor (cross-checking) 13:43: WBS - (PP) Fedun, minor (hooking) 15:22: LV - PPG Foerster (2) - York, Frost 15:55: LV - (PP) Clendening, minor (closing hand on puck) 18:49: WBS - (PP) Olson, minor (boarding)

2nd Period

1:15: LV - (PP) Wilson, minor (tripping) 3:16: WBS - (PP) Olson, minor (interference) 5:13: LV - (PP) Ratcliffe, minor (cross-checking) 11:25: LV - (PP) Sushko, minor (hooking) 13:12: LV - (PP) O'Reilly, minor (hooking) 20:00: LV - (PP) Mayhew, minor (roughing)

3rd Period

4:27: LV - Hodgson (2) - Wilson, Clendening 12:02: WBS - Gruden, major (fighting) 12:02: LV - (PP) Day, minor (tripping) 12:02: LV - (PP) Day, minor (roughing) 12:02: LV - Day, major (fighting) 18:27: LV - ENG Mayhew (4) - Frost

BOXSCORE

W-B/Scranton   0 - 0 - 0 = 0 Lehigh Valley   2 - 0 - 2 = 4

Shots

W-B/Scranton   10 - 6 - 9 = 25 Lehigh Valley   15 - 6 - 5 = 26

Goalies

WBS: Louis Domingue (21 saves - 25 shots) LV: Felix Sandstrom (25 saves - 25 shots)

Power Play

WBS: 0-for-8 LV: 1-for-5

Penalty Kill

WBS: 4-for-5 LV: 8-for-8